Lucrecia Martel s third feature, The Headless Woman, was shown in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where its enigmatic surface produced reactions as varied as did L Avventura some 40 odd years before. Since then it has been released around the world after garnering many supporters from the leading ranks of the critical community, and she has been recognised as one of the leading new film-makers in the world.

María Onetto plays Verónica, a woman in her early forties. Driving in the country she is distracted and apparently hits something. Disturbed by the bang, she does not investigate but drives off. Subsequent to the accident she becomes disconnected to her daily life. She eventually tells her husband about the incident - they return to the scene and only find a dead dog. But then news emerges that a child has disappeared and her family join together to erase all traces of the accident ever having occurred.

Martel first came to prominence with her debut feature, La Ciénaga (The Swamp) and then La Niña Santa (The Holy Girl) from 2004. This film continues the aural and visual ambivalences of the earlier films, with a narrative that has no clear-cut answers, and that can be seen as an oblique reference to the events of the 70 s in Argentina and the oblivion shown at the time towards the actions of the ruling military junta.

It s a film that demands and greatly rewards close attention.

. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2008
. Official Selection New York Film Festival 2008
Starring María Onetto, Claudia Cantero, Inés Efron, César Bordón, Daniel Genoud, Guillermo Arengo, and María Vaner. Argentina 2008 / 87 minutes / Certificate: tbc

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